Former Texas Tech standout wins barrel-racing world title again

The former Texas Tech standout won her second barrel-racing world title in four years Saturday night in the National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. The second-place money Sears earned in Saturday's round 10 boosted her final total for the year to $238,864, more than $40,000 ahead of second-place finisher Brittany Pozzi.

Sears also took the 10-round NFR aggregate title, good for $45,865, with 10 runs in 139.50 seconods. Sears and her mare, Martha, went 13.75 seconds in the final round.

Former Tech rodeo team member Ryan Gray finished sixth in the world standings in bareback riding with $137,257, earning fifth-place money Saturday with an 85-point ride, and Sudan's Kory Koontz finished seventh among team-roping heelers with $135,070.

The past week was the 18th trip to the NFR for Koontz, a Lubbock native who graduated from Amherst High School.

It was the NFR debut for 20-year-old Chandler Bownds, a Cooper High School graduate who finished eighth in bull riding. Bownds made almost $50,000 in the last 10 days with two go-round wins and a second in Vegas. That boosted his total for the year $121,562.

Tech graduate Adam Gray from Seymour had a strong week in tie-down roping. A third-place finish in the final round, good for $10,673, and a tie for second in the average, worth $33,317, moved him to ninth in the world standings at $130,336. Gray tied his calf in 8.1 seconds Saturday.